MB Wiki:Deletion policy
From MB Wiki
In the normal day to day operations of MetaWikipedia, pages are deleted. While it is possible for any user to blank a page, the original content will still be available in the page history for others to view and put back if they wish. When pages are deleted, this removes not only the current version but also all previous versions.
Only administrators (also called sysops) have the ability to delete and undelete pages within the system. With our current deletion system (cf deletion management redesign), administrators necessarily must use their best judgment in making this decision. You can expect administrators to follow the process detailed below to aid them in their judgement. Administrators are reminded to be very cautious as regards images deletion, since these are permanent.
While anyone may request deletion on Requests for deletion, any user can similarly ask for undeletion on Requests for undeletion. It is reminded to administrators, that non-sysop users can not see the content of deleted articles, so that a request to see it should be fulfilled by any means considered best by the sysop, keeping in mind that admin have no more right but rather more duties than non-admin, and are first of all at the service of the community.
Meta is a place where all languages are welcome. Ideally, all languages used on meta should be understood by at least one sysop. Unfortunately, this is not the case yet. It is recommended that sysops be extra cautious in deletion of pages in other languages. Before deletion, they can look for advice on the embassy pages, and contact those people who are multilingual.
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Procedure for deletion
All requests for deletion should be handled in one central place for clarity. It is reminded though, that all languages may be used to request or comment on a page deletion.
To request that a page or image be deleted, place it on Requests for deletion (RfD). Try to give the reason why you think it should be deleted.
Most pages listed will remain there at least 2 weeks, giving other users the chance to comment on whether they think deletion is in fact appropriate. This delay is quite generous on purpose, as many users do not go to meta very often. An administrator may delete the page after these two weeks, if a rough consensus is reached.
It is recommended either to place a notice for deletion on the page, or to put a comment on the user talk page of the author, to warn him/her of the suggested deletion.
Candidates for speedy deletion
There are a few, limited, exceptions to the two weeks rule:
- No meaningful content or history (eg "sdhgdf").
- Test pages (eg "Can I really create a page here?").
- Pure vandalism
- Pages created and edited solely by a banned user, after they were banned. This is controversial!
- Personal subpages or personal images, on user request
- Deleting a redirect that has no useful history, to make way for a non-controversial page move.
- Temporarily deleting a page in order to merge page histories after a cut and paste move.
- Reposted content that was deleted according to this deletion policy.
- Pages that appear to be encyclopedia articles rather than meta-discussion. Check to see if an article exists in the same language wikipedia, and if so, delete the one here. This is not an encyclopedia.
In these cases, sysops may choose to delete the page without it being listed on RfD, or after it has only been listed for a day or two.
Note that possible copyright infringements are not candidates for speedy deletion.
Special cases
Although it is impossible to verify "who" is behind any account or IP, in principle users may be hard banned
- either by Jimbo Wales, our "benevolent dictator" or "GodKing".
- or by communities on international wikipedias.
On the English wikipedia, all edits by a hard banned user made since their ban, regardless of their merits, may be reverted by any user and all new pages created may be deleted. The English community ask that users not reinstate any edits made by banned users, but some strongly oppose this policy, as they consider stupid to revert a useful edit, merely because the contributor was banned. Besides, nobody is obligated to enforce the ban in deleting or reverting edits.
On other wikipedias, practices are different. For example, on the French wikipedia, a useful article from a banned user, is likely to be kept, though some - controversially - will delete it.
If someone else has edited the page, deletion is generally not appropriate. Try instead to edit the page to remove or refactor content contributed by the banned user, and keep content contributed by others. If you feel a newly created article may have been deleted in error, list it on Requests for undeletion. For example, you might list a page if you think it's a case of mistaken identity, or for some other reason.
Bad things and bad users will not always disappear because we wish them to. Some banned users indeed respect the ban, most get tired of being reverted, some never give up, and keep coming back. When technical options do not allow us to keep these users away, it is best to adapt.
It is not possible to revert newly created articles, as there is nothing to revert to. For hard bans, sysops can simply delete the page, though this is controversial. Non-sysops can blank the page and list it on votes for deletion if they want to be sure that it doesn't get missed.
Some users will exceptionally support keeping a new page created by a banned user. A reason for keeping the page, or undeleting it would be that the new page is a page of quality, and that Meta will benefit of that new page. Far less often mentioned is the desire to promote guiding the banned user toward useful edits, rather than bad ones (per french opinion for example).
For those who think a good edit must be kept, since they consider what counts is the edit, not the author of the edit, the option that seems to be the least opposed with is to
- copy the content of the article
- delete the article made by the banned user
- recreate the page under the name of a non banned user (you), and indicate in the comment box (the talk page is also mentioned by some english editors), the user name or the ip of the banned user. That page will initially contain the original content or part of the original (non refactored) content. This step is necessary to ensure the gfdl is respected as regards authorship.
- edit the page in a significant way, either to remove offending content, and/or to remove copyrighted content, and/or to add to the content, and/or to refactor the content.
